Comprehensive energy plan crucial

President Barack Obama told Congress he would “keep trying every new idea that works, and listen to every good proposal, no matter which party comes up with it.” Western Republicans have laid out a clear path to energy security and job creation. The president should listen to it and embrace it.

The House passed 10 key pieces of legislation over the past year that will begin to generate quality jobs and increase U.S. energy production. These bills, part of the Senate and Congressional Western Caucus’s Jobs Frontier report, tackle critical issues such as encouraging energy exploration and production and removing unnecessary Environmental Protection Agency regulations. This legislation would create thousands of jobs for Americans.

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The Senate Western Caucus is due to introduce the Western Economic Security Today Act on Wednesday. This bill contains language from eight bills already passed by the House that were part of the Jobs Frontier report. These specific bills include the Jobs and Energy Permitting Act, the Restarting American Offshore Leasing Act Now and the Farm Dust Regulation Prevention Act, among others.

This legislation will make it easier for U.S. energy producers to create new jobs by removing EPA regulations. It also increases access to federal public lands and waters by streamlining the energy permitting process. The bottom line is that this act is ready to create jobs now and set the nation on the path to becoming more energy secure.

A comprehensive energy plan is crucial. We need to increase access to our supplies of natural gas, petroleum and critical minerals, while also developing alternative energies such as wind and solar power. This combination will create high-paying jobs, increase U.S. energy production and bring down the cost of gasoline. It will also generate revenue that the federal government can use to begin paying off our immense national debt.

With an all-the-above energy approach, our country will be one step closer to reaching our goal of energy security.